There is no actual arena right? It's just a figure of speech. But yeah, they don't seem to make any of the mechs I grew up with. Hopefully there might be some new favourites.

There are actual arenas and mech stables. The entire planet was pretty much purposed with the intent to host mech combat competitions and the gambling associated with such. The planet is basically a UN of all the factions which each control a sector of the capital city and host their own arena for the major competitions.

Thanks for the info, I have recently discovered sarna.net. That thunderbolt actually looks pretty cool, most of the others I saw like the copperhead aren't really my style. I like more traditional looking ones. But hey, I'm sure there will be some fans of whatever they decide to produce.

There are actual arenas and mech stables. The entire planet was pretty much purposed with the intent to host mech combat competitions and the gambling associated with such. The planet is basically a UN of all the factions which each control a sector of the capital city and host their own arena for the major competitions.

It's my quick thought that the solaris option would bring in a continuous flow of increased MC spending, fans, and wonderful advertising for MWO in total. To elaborate, unofficial matches should be available all the time for mechwarriors to practice, have fun, and earn c-bills. However, what would be an ultimate thriller is to have an official solaris season, held best in the off-season of actual national sports. Say players to be allowed entering these would need to have won several unofficial matches and then actually pay a MC fee to enter. In gritty detail, have players opt in for scheduled events when they are applicable and say top 16 with most previous wins or collective score that arrive are selected to compete. Those that arrive but are not selected to play should get to observe as MVP fans in control of their own areal cameras. The cameras can be in several layouts: visible dev cameras to make the official recording, and invisible fan perspectives. Of course there should also be the standard spectator mode to see as the combatant sees as regular and in Nascar. Over all, be there top 3 prizes and goal to qualify for grand finale. For the MC earnings, as the final arranged video would be free for advertising, give fans the MC entry price allowing them to each see the match live from their own original perspective. Don't forget Duncan Fisher. Someone also mentioned gambling? Plus special cockpit items purchasable to say a player observed or fought in an official match. Of course all of this can be developed as pace allows, but there is my general thought.
On another note, I have been shooting at incoming lrms since the beginning and would really like to see some of them blow up by the time solaris arrives.
Also the console beneath the radar could be purchased with c-bills in the upgrade section to be a rear-view-camera to look down at with free look.
A fan since MW2 and Heavy Gear, this game is doing quite well.

It's my quick thought that the solaris option would bring in a continuous flow of increased MC spending, fans, and wonderful advertising for MWO in total. To elaborate, unofficial matches should be available all the time for mechwarriors to practice, have fun, and earn c-bills. However, what would be an ultimate thriller is to have an official solaris season, held best in the off-season of actual national sports. Say players to be allowed entering these would need to have won several unofficial matches and then actually pay a MC fee to enter. In gritty detail, have players opt in for scheduled events when they are applicable and say top 16 with most previous wins or collective score that arrive are selected to compete. Those that arrive but are not selected to play should get to observe as MVP fans in control of their own areal cameras. The cameras can be in several layouts: visible dev cameras to make the official recording, and invisible fan perspectives. Of course there should also be the standard spectator mode to see as the combatant sees as regular and in Nascar. Over all, be there top 3 prizes and goal to qualify for grand finale. For the MC earnings, as the final arranged video would be free for advertising, give fans the MC entry price allowing them to each see the match live from their own original perspective. Don't forget Duncan Fisher. Someone also mentioned gambling? Plus special cockpit items purchasable to say a player observed or fought in an official match. Of course all of this can be developed as pace allows, but there is my general thought.
On another note, I have been shooting at incoming lrms since the beginning and would really like to see some of them blow up by the time solaris arrives.
Also the console beneath the radar could be purchased with c-bills in the upgrade section to be a rear-view-camera to look down at with free look.
A fan since MW2 and Heavy Gear, this game is doing quite well.

A Solaris mode with seasons and tournaments would be awesome and a good source of revenue for the game.

My only concern is that in a competitive, 1v1 environment certain "top tier" mechs and builds will show up that aren't "top tier" in the team environment. This will lead to bitching and moaning about "balance" and "seeing the same optimized builds over and over" and if you start making changes for the sake of 1v1 then those will not translate well to CW or 12v12.

A Solaris mode with seasons and tournaments would be awesome and a good source of revenue for the game.

My only concern is that in a competitive, 1v1 environment certain "top tier" mechs and builds will show up that aren't "top tier" in the team environment. This will lead to bitching and moaning about "balance" and "seeing the same optimized builds over and over" and if you start making changes for the sake of 1v1 then those will not translate well to CW or 12v12.

There are actual arenas and mech stables. The entire planet was pretty much purposed with the intent to host mech combat competitions and the gambling associated with such. The planet is basically a UN of all the factions which each control a sector of the capital city and host their own arena for the major competitions.

A lot of highly experimental stuff got its start on Solaris, so the Reflective Armor thing might not be a mistake. In the adventure Unbound, there was a mech with a direct neural interface that allowed incredibly fast reaction times (also drove the user insane). So it's not unheard of that Solaris would be a testing ground for weird stuff.

All that said? Having Solaris, and the associated maps (which were really cool and diverse) as arenas, would be a blast. Hope MWO does it.

That would be fantastic to see. With a full spectator mode, it could make for some epic viewing. In a perfect world they could even hire Duncan Fisher to do the commentary.

Having actual MC prizes would be great, but even cbill prizes would be fun. Spectator gambling (even for just cbills) would be tricky. Even with just cbills (you can buy cbills with MC, so someone could be wagering real money) they would have to do some legal wrangling. My guess is that PGI will choose to steer clear of that whole mess.

Skip to about 4:10 to see what I mean. It's through my opponents eyes and sadly the sound glitched out.

1v1 'mechs SHOULD be different and that is the point of my post. Certain builds would eventually emerge that dominate--leading to cries for nerfs. Said nerfs would then have consequences on the team game, rendering builds that were not overpowered or were simply complementary into uselessness.

People who ***** and complain instead of improvising, adapting, and overcoming (my Heartbreak Ridge quote of the day) will always bring down online games with an active community. Sadly it is the way that gaming is these days.

So to keep all the top tier mechs from becoming an identical standard, in arenas and in arenas only, why not prevent the standard spectator mode from inside the cockpit and leave weapon loadouts a mystery of speculation? That would make good commentary. Of course each weapon has its own signatures to the pros, but the middle class given a rotating drone view as in MW4 Mercenaries might have to think harder on it and accidentally even be a bit original.

Solaris would initiate a major profit margin.
Practice quick matches free and earn varying C-bill rewards for placement.
-Make the yearly season a reality with MC entry fee.
Set times for daily matches of each weight category.
Free to spectate from floating maneuverable camera 1st & 3rd perspective.
-Discount starting entry fee for quick auctions so present spectators can fill any no-show competitor slots.
-Make you tube sessions showing the best of the official matches with commentary, as well as advertising with emphasis the best in depth qualities of the game/techniques. Season a year on the game channel I heard of once?

Make LRMs able to be shot down, to some degree, with lasers of high enough power. (anything in this manner would be thrilling)

Consider joint shots of enough power to lock components in place before destroying them?
A stalker shot in the waist? Better just slightly slow its twist with a grinding sound...
Arms get fused to torso?
Make them slim, hard to hit spots.

FOR FACTION WARFARE:
If we could initiate or join the wait for a match, while still being able to tinker in the mechlab/all other tabs, ect... more players would invest their time into the faction combat option.
When match gets full and initiates the countdown, player gets pop up with same count down to save/discard whatever they were working on and return to the lobby clicking READY in the pop up.

Waiting in a lobby not full without any option to do anything else has always been participatory downfall, so I believe.